Today's Draw: The Fool from the Nigel
Jackson tarot. When was the last time you did something a little reckless? In
general, how safe are the risks you take? Would you welcome more zing in your
life?
Everybody wants more zing in their
lives, right? The trouble is, zing isn't something that comes looking for you.
You have to look for it. Sure, a drop or two of zing might hit you at random
from time to time. And if that's OK with you then, by all means, wait for zing
to find you.
But there's growing underground
movement of Zing Seekers for whom the occasional splash of zing just isn't enough.
They take personal responsibility for their zingitude and actively seek deep
pools of zing to roll around in. And I'm one of those seekers. So I declare
this week's theme to be "Qualities to Cultivate to Get More Zing Out of
Life." Or "Zing Week" as we homeys call it.
So the first card in Zing Week is the
Fool. This dude is basically drunk on the stuff. See his droopy-eyed look? And
the electric glow around his head? And the donkey-eared hat? It would be easy
to mistake him for a simpleton...a literal fool who's about to step off the
side of a cliff because he's walking around focused on some silly daydream
instead of watching where he's going.
But he doesn't care what you think. Nor
does he lack focus. Sure, he's innocent and a little naïve. In fact, his
foolish, innocent nature is his greatest strength. It's the strength that makes
him makes him smarter and more courageous than most of the rest of us on most days. Because he has
total trust and faith that, when he walks off the side of the cliff, he will
fall in the very spot he's meant to fall in to create change in his life.
The certain death he's just two steps
away from is the death of the old Fool that wasn't making him happy anymore. At
the same time, he's also two steps away from freedom from that existence and
the joy and infinite possibility that come with it. And he knows it. That's the
difference between him and us. He knows there's zing in throwing caution to the wind. And so he takes those steps without
hesitation, when you or I may hesitate for years at the precipice between now
and the rest of our lives.
Literally, in the tarot, the Fool is
on a journey and on the other side of this leap is an education...spiritual
lessons and growth. So another thing he knows that we may not is that there is
no way to lose, no way to fail, no way to do it wrong. That's why he has no
fear. Everything is lessons. Everything is part of the journey he signed on
for.
So, say you've decided to quit your
job as an attorney and start all over again as a baker. That's a big leap. And
the road may not go smoothly. But with each bump, you learn a lesson that makes
the road ahead a little smoother. Maybe the road will veer a little. Maybe
you'll start to bake less and manage bakers more. Maybe you'll write a cookbook.
Or host a TV show about baking. Maybe you'll end up with a cake conglomerate
that plays a part in a whole cake revolution. Who knows?
Where you end up may not be where you
imagined when you first took the leap. But maybe it's exactly where you're
supposed to be. People who live in the DC area may recognize this "fool's
story" as that of Warren
Brown, owner of Cake Love. If you get a chance, read his story here and here. The dude just loved
to bake. So he lept.
The world is also full of stories of
dudes that never lept. Those stories usually end like this...."And he died
a grumpy old man." :D The world is also full of stories of people who lept
and didn't end up as successful as Warren Brown. But even if their intention
never manifested, they usually don't regret having tried.
Having made a big leap myself before
(when I quit my job to freelance) I can say that my life has never had more
zing than it did back then. I wasn't scared at all. In fact, I've never felt
more powerful and alive. But a leap doesn't have to be that huge. Maybe you
trade in an old hobby for a new one. Or convert your car to run on French fry
oil. Or cut off your hair and dye it purple.
Whatever it is, a leap draws a line
in the sand between yesterday and today. Where yesterday was a known quantity,
today is not. Where yesterday was safe, today is not. And where yesterday was
just another day, today is not. Today has zing.
So the first suggestion for bringing
more zing into your life is to shake things up a bit. Make a leap. Face a fear.
Follow a dream. And jump right into the arms of the thing that scares you most...the unknown.
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